IRLF 


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J  DOCUMENT 
\   No.  253 


INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM 
IN  SWITZERLAND 


A  MEMORIAL 


RELATIVE  TO  THE  INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM 
IN  SWITZERLAND 


BY 


CARL  S.  VROOMAN 


PRESENTED  BY  MR.  OWEN 
DECEMBER  3,   1913.— Ordered  to  be  printed 


WASHINGTON 
1913 


THE  INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM  IN  SWITZERLAND. 


Bv  CARL  S.  VROOMAN. 


The  personality  of  Switzerland,  like  that  of  Italy,  is  unique. 
But  while  the  all-pervasive  and  dominant  influence  south  of  the 
Alps  is  that  of  art,  in  the  little  Republic  to  their  north  the  omni- 
present, evercreative  national  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  democracy. 
Upon  entering  its  borders  the  observant  traveler  finds  himself  lifted 
into  an  atmosphere  of  intellectual  liberty,  political  equality,  and 
social  justice.  In  fact,  the  work  of  this  "political  experiment  sta- 
tion of  the  world  "  is  of  such  incomparable  importance  that  a  first- 
hand knowledge  of  its  methods  and  institutions  has  become  as  in- 
valuable to  the  student  of  politics  as  is  a  personal  acquaintance  with 
the  masterpieces  of  Italian  paintings  to  the  student  of  art. 

Among  the  institutions  in  operation  there,  the  most  important  is 
the  initiative  and  referendum — a  system  of  direct  popular  control  of 
the  lawmaking  power,  which  has  been  adopted  elsewhere  to  a  lim- 
ited degree.  Its  results  have  attracted  the  attention  of  students  the 
world  over,  and  tempted  travelers  to  a  more  than  passing  inquiry. 
Many  a  tourist  has  turned  amateur  investigator,  and  converted,  as  I 
did,  his  Swiss  sojourn  into  something  of  a  political  pilgrimage. 

The  referendum  is  in  the  air  and  you  can  not  escape  it.  You 
meet  it  at  every  turn ;  you  hear  of  it  in  the  restaurants,  on  steamship 
docks,  in  the  railroad  trains.  Almost  every  chance  acquaintance  has 
at  least  a  word  to  say7  regarding  it.  It  was  but  a  few  hours  after  I 
had  unpacked  my  luggage  at  Lucerne  that  I  began  to  hear  of  it  and 
its  benefits.  Next  to  me  at  the  table  d'hote  dinner  sat  a  big  raw- 
boned  Texan  and  beside  him  a  small  Swiss  gentleman  with  a  pointed 
beard.  Their  conversation  bore  upon  this  interesting  institution, 
which  my  compatriot  was  by  no  means  sure  could  be  adopted  with 
profit  by  the  United  States. " 

"  I  reckon  this  referendum,  as  you  call  it,  may  work  all  right  in  a 
little  two-by-four  country  like  yours,"'  said  the  Texan,  "but  you 
needn't  get  puffed  up  on  that  account,  and  try  to  teach  a  country 
that  can  whip  all  Europe." 

"I  hope  you  will  not  forget,"  replied  the  Swiss,  "that  my  coun- 
try has  a  larger  area  than  some  of  your  States  and  a  larger  popu- 
lation than  the  average  of  them.  Therefore,  if  the  referendum  has 
worked  well  in  Switzerland,  as  everyone  concedes  it  has,  unless  you 
can  find  some  better  objection  than  your  unwieldy  bulk,  you  must 
admit  that  it  would  work  well  in  your  separate  States.  We  tried  it 
first  in  two  or  three  of  our  cantons,  where  it  proved  so  successful 
that  one  by  one  the  other  cantons  adopted  it,  and  finally,  when  by 


/tO/4/f  <  n 


4  THE  IN^lATt^  >^  B^p-ERSoffDUM  IN   SWITZERLAND. 


the  unmistakable  test  of  experience  we  had  proved  its  incompara- 
ble merits,  we  adopted  it  for  the  nation.  Try  it  in  your  States  first, 
and  have  no  fear  it  will  win  its  own  way  in  your  Nation." 

"  Perhaps  I  don't  entirely  understand  the  workings  of  this  refer- 
endum," said  the  Texan. 

"  I  have  figured  it  out,"  said  a  Yankee  across  the  table.  "  You 
say  you  are  a  stock  raiser.  Suppose  you  were  to  tell  your  hired  man 
to  fence  off  a  certain  lot  for  the  hogs,  and  he'd  reply  that  he  would 
do  nothing  of  the  kind.  What  would  you  do  ?  " 

"  I'd  discharge  him,  sir,  in  one-half  minute,  sir,"  said  the  south- 
erner. 

"  Quite  right.  But,  suppose  a  little  later  another  farm  hand,  on 
being  told  to  plant  a  certain  field  in  cotton,  were  to  plant  it  in  oats, 
what  would  you  say  to  that  ?  " 

"  I'd  order  him  off  my  premises,  sir." 

"  But,"  continued  the  Yankee,  "  are  not  State  representatives  and 
Congressmen  the  servants  of  the  people?  " 

"Assuredly,  sir,"  replied  the  Texan,  anticipating  the  other's  idea, 
"but  in  America,  if  our  Congressmen  pass  a  laAv  which  we  do  not 
like,  or  neglect  to  pass  a  law  we  want,  we  turn  them  down,  sir,  at 
the  polls  at  the  very  next  election." 

"  Indeed  !  "  replied  the  Yankee,  "  but  to  go  back  to  the  farm  hand, 
would  you  want  him  around  your  place  for  two  years,  squandering 
your  money,  neglecting  your  interests,  disobeying  and  insulting  you, 
before  turning  him  down  or  knocking  him  down,  as  the  case  might 
be  ?  I  think  not.  You  need  not  wait  till  the  next  election  to  veto  a 
measure  you  don't  want  or  to  get  one  that  you  do.  It  is  very  simple; 
you  merely  go  over  the  heads  of  your  servants  when  they  cease  to 
observe  your  wishes.  Why  should  the  people  wait  until  another  elec- 
tion before  turning  down  such  rascals  as  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  Illinois,  who  in  1898  gave  to  Yerkes  $25,000.000  worth  of 
franchises  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  nearly  the  whole  Common- 
wealth ?  To  defeat  such  men  at  the  polls  is  to  lock  the  door  after  the 
horse  is  stolen.  This  fatal  political  procrastination  is  only  too  com- 
mon in  the  United  States.  Take  another  example:  Some  years  ago 
the  United  Gas  Improvement  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  got  control  of  the 
city  council  at  a  good  fat  figure,  and  was  thus  able  to  lease  for  30 
years  at  an  exceedingly  lean  and  low  figure  the  gas  plant  which  the 
city  had  owned  and  operated  for  56  years.  This  nauseating  perform- 
ance was  violently  but  ineffectually  opposed  by  every  decent  Ameri- 
can "  sovereign  '  in  the  city.  The  referendum  would  have  made  such 
a  steal  impossible." 

"  If  that  is  the  referendum  and  intiative,  sir,"  said  the  Texan, 
"  if  it  simply  means  being  obeyed  by  our  public  servants,  why,  that 
is  democracy,  and  you  can  count  not  only  on  me  but  on  a  200,000  ma- 
jority for  it  in  Texas  as  soon  as  our  people  have  come  to  understand 
it.  And  mind  you,  what  we  are  ready  to  vote  for  down  there  we  are 
ready  to  fight  for." 

"  Don't,  pray,  let  us  even  discuss  such  a  thing,"  puffed  a  fat  bishop 
from  New  York,  who  had  overheard  the  conversation.  "  This  would 
mean  nothing  less  than  ochlocracy.  Representative  government  is  all 
right,  but  this  referendum  means  downright  mob  rule.  It  is  un- 
American,  it  is  unconstitutional  and  leads  to  anarchy." 


THE   INITIATIVE   AND   REFERENDUM   IN   SWITZERLAND.  5 

"  Pardon  me,  sir,"  replied  the  Swiss,  suavely,  c;  but  has  it  not  been 
said:  i  Bv  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them/'  Are  you  agreed  to 
that?"  m 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  bishop,  stiffly. 

"  Very  well ;  here  are  the  facts :  The  referendum  was  opposed  at 
first  in  Switzerland  by  the  wealthy  and  the  learned,  the  conservative 
and  reactionary  forces  of  society!!  To-day,  after  a  trial  of  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century  its  chief  opponents  are  the  most  radical  Social- 
ists, who  find  the  great  body  of  the  people  too  conservative  in  their 
movements.  In  fact,  the  Federal  referendum  has  defeated  more 
bills  than  it  has  passed.  The  referendum  upon  Federal  statute  laws 
was  secured  in  1874.  From  that  date  until  1913  the  National  Con- 
gress passed  273  measures  of  a  general  character,  upon  which  the 
referendum  could  have  been  demanded.  The  referendum  was  actu- 
ally demanded  upon  only  31  of  these  laws,  of  which  12  were  adopted 
and  19  rejected  by  the  people.  During  this  period  30  amendments 
to  the  Feideral  Constitution  have  been  submitted  to  the  people,  of 
which  14  were  adopted  and  1G  rejected.  Do  you  see  an}Tthing  dan- 
gerous about  that?" 

"Well,  no — ah — of  course;  I  was  just — er — venturing  an  opinion. 
I  have  given  the  matter  little  study  or  thought.  Perhaps  there  may 
be  some  truth  in  what  you  say,"  and  he  waddled  off  wheezing  and 
perspiring  and — who  knows — perhaps  thinking. 

The  referendum  is  not  altogether  new  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  We  use  it  in  every  State  in  the  Union,  except  Delaware, 
when  adopting  or  altering  a  State  constitution.  In  15  States  the 
capital  can  not  be  changed,  in  11  no  law  can  be  passed  for  incur- 
rence  of  debt  not  specified  in  the  constitution,  and  in  7  no  laws  can 
be  passed  establishing  banking  corporations  without  recourse  to 
the  referendum.  Many  other  States  make  the  referendum  compul- 
sory for  a  multitude  of  different  kinds  of  legislation.  The  custom  of 
referring  to  popular  vote  a  proposition  of  a  purely  local  nature,  such 
as  voting  bonds  to  purchase  a  park,  a  light  or  water  plant,  to  build 
schoolhouses,  or  what  not,  is  very  common  in  American  cities  and  is 
the  legislative  referendum  pure  and  simple. 

During  the  past  15  years  the  initiative  and  referendum  have  made 
such  progress  in  American  States  and  cities  as  to  make  of  this  move- 
ment toward  effective  democracy  perhaps  the  most  significant  polit- 
ical fact  of  our  time.  By  decisive  majorities  they  have  been  made  a 
part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land  by  the  voters  of  South 
Dakota  in  1898,  Utah  in  1900,  Oregon  in  1902,  Nevada  in  1905  and 
1912,  Montana  in  1906,  Oklahoma  in  1907,  Maine  and  Missouri  in 
1908,  Arkansas  and  Colorado  in  1910,  Arizona  and  California  in  1911, 
Nebraska,  Idaho,  Washington,  and  Ohio  in  1912,  and  Michigan  in 
1913. 

But  while  this  record  shows  the  widespread  acceptance  and  tri- 
umph of  the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  it  is  just  as  well  to 
remember  that  in  the  States  of  South  Dakota,  Maine,  Montana,  and 
Washington  the  people  are  not  allowed  the  right  to  initiate  amend- 
ments to  their  State  constitutions,  and  that  various  "jokers"  have 
been  embodied  in  the  South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Oklahoma  pro- 
visions for  the  initiative  and  referendum  which  have  largely  pre- 
vented the  people  of  these  States  from  making  a  successful  use  of 
these  instruments  of  democracy. 


6  THE  INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM  IN   SWITZERLAND. 

Moreover,  the  fact  must  not  be  ignored  that  in  several  States  the 
constitutional  amendments  for  direct  legislation  have  been  so  drawn 
as  to  give  the  people  little  real  control,  and  in  two  cases  absolutely 
no  control,  over  their  government.  For  example,  in  Utah  and  Idaho 
only  the  "general  principle"  of  direct  legislation  was  incorporated 
into  the  constitution,  the  details  of  the  system  being  left  to  legisla- 
tive enactment.  The  result  has  been  that  for  the  past  13  years  the 
Legislature  of  Utah  has  stubbornly  refused  to  pass  the  necessary 
enabling  act,  and  the  people  of  that  State  have  never  been  permittee!, 
the  use  of  the  initiative  and  referendum.  In  like  manner,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1912,  the  people  of  Idaho  passed  a  similar  amendment,  but  the 
legislature,  which  met  in  January,  1913,  refused  to  carry  out  the 
clearly  understood  mandate  of  the  people. 

Thus  far  in  the  year  1913  the  Legislatures  of  North  Dakota,  Wis- 
consin, and  Texas  have  submitted  amendments  which  will  be  voted 
on  by  the  people  at  the  general  election  of  1914,  and  the  Legislature 
of  Iowa  has  passed  an  amendment  which,  if  indorsed  by  the  legis- 
lature meeting  in  1915,  will  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  that  State 
in  1916.  But,  unfortunately,  the  Wisconsin  constitutional  amend- 
ment is  the  only  one  passed  this  year  which  can  be  regarded  as  an 
honest  and  effective  effort  to  make  practical  use  of  the  principle  of 
the  initiative  and  referendum.  Such  provisions  as  that  in  the 
Texas  amendment,  requiring  a  petition  of  20  per  cent  of  the  voters 
in  the  State  to  invoke  either  the  initiative  or  the  referendum,  is  an 
absurdity  upon  the  face  of  it,  and  practically  renders  the  law  inop- 
erative. 

However,  in  splendid  contrast  to  some  of  these  other  States,  Ore- 
gon, Colorado,  Arkansas,  California,  and  Arizona  have  provided 
for  an  intelligent  and  effective  use  of  the  initiative  and  referendum. 

The  people  of  Illinois  and  of  the  other  States  which  are  thinking 
of  adopting  the  principle  of  direct  legislation  are  beginning  to  see 
clearly  by  this  time  that  it  is  far  better  to  have  no  legislation  what- 
ever upon  the  subject  than  to  pass  a  law  so  filled  with  restrictions 
and  "jokers"  that  it  would  be  of  no  use  whatever  as  an  instrument 
of  democracy,  and  serve  only  to  discredit  the  great  principle  of  direct 
popular  control  of  legislation. 

The  movement  toward  real  democracy  has  become  so  irresistible 
that  the  platforms  of  all  political  parties,  except  in  the  most  reac- 
tionary States,  contain  planks  demanding  direct  legislation. 

In  the  future  the  most  pernicious  enemies  of  democracy  will  be, 
not  the  open  and  honest  opponents  of  this  principle,  but  the  crafty 
and  unscrupulous  political  tricksters,  who,  with  hypocritical  and 
sonorous  phrases  on  their  lips,  seek  to  betray  the  principle  of  initia- 
tive and  referendum  by  slipping  provisions  into  the  law  which  either 
render  it  inoperative  or  render  its  operation  ineffectual.  Let  us 
make  no  mistake.  The  real  danger  to  popular  government  lies  in 
the  Judas  kiss  of  its  professed  friends,  with  the  passwords  of  democ- 
racy on  their  lips,  perfidious  legislative  "jokers"  in  their  hands, 
the  golden  shekels  of  plutocracy  in  their  pockets,  and  treason  to  the 
people  in  their  hearts. 

Voters  of  Illinois,  send  as  representatives  to  the  legislature  in  the 
future  only  men  whose  record  in  the  past  and  whose  attitude  at 
present  make  them  stand  out,  like  Caesar's  wife,  as  absolutely  above 


THE  INITIATIVE   AND   REFERENDUM   IX   SWITZERLAND.  7 

suspicion  in  their  loyal  and  whole-hearted  devotion  to  the  principle 
of  real  and  effective  popular  sovereignty. 

It  is  this  feature  of  the  Swiss  Republic — the  power  of  the  people 
to  thwart  all  legislation  destructive  of  their  best  interests  and  to 
enact  into  law  any  and  all  measures  that  will  minister  to  their  wel- 
fare— which  is  the  kill  and  cure  of  corruption  in  politics.  It  is  this 
feature  which  has  made  the  statesmanship  of  Switzerland  at  once 
conservative  and  constructive,  which  has  in  truth  made  this  little 
mass  of  mountains,  forests,  and  lakes  the  "model  republic  of  the 
world." 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  value  of  this  institution  came  a  week 
or  so  later  when  I  went  to  Interlaken.  There  I  met  a  Yale  student,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  who  had  never  seen  anything  higher  than  the 
Berkshire  Hills.  Very  early  in  our  acquaintance  I  discovered  in  him 
a  constitutional  prejudice  against  certain  categories  of  ideas  which 
he  termed  "  advanced,"  and  especially  against  any  suggestion  that 
squinted  in  the  direction  of  an  extension  of  the  sphere  of  government. 
This  feeling  of  his  gave  rise  to  some  very  interesting  discussions 
and  amusing  episodes.  I  recall  one  especially  memorable  conversa- 
tion. He  had  become  so  enthusiastic  over  the  Swiss  mountains, 
lakes,  and  people  that  he  actually  proposed  establishing  himself 
permanently  in  the  country. 

"I  will  offer  you,"  I  said,  "the  same  advice  that  Punch  gave  to 
a  man  about  to  be  married — c  dont !  '  If  you  feel  that  you  have 
outgrown  New  England,  you  are  ready  for  the  West.  There  you  will 
meet  kindred  spirits,  graduates  from  every  State  in  the  East." 

"  What  part  of  the  country  are  you  from?  " 

"  I  am  from  the  heart  of  the  country — the  great  Mississippi 
Valley." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say,"  he  broke  forth,  "  that  you  are  from  the 
region  where  the  Progressives,  Bryan  Democrats,  and  Populists  hail 
from!" 

"  I  am  from  the  region  which  started  the  struggle  for  the  freedom 
of  the  slave,  and  Avhich  has  generally  been  in  the  van  of  the  forces 
which  have  been  fighting  the  fight  of  the  people  against  organized 
greed." 

~  "  But  didn't  I  understand  that  you  were  a  Harvard  man,  and  that 
you  have  been  studying  politics  abroad  for  several  years?  " 

I  nodded  an  affirmative. 

"  Surely,"x  he  continued,  with  a  gleam  of  hope  in  his  eye,  "you 
don't  believe  in  those  half-baked,  a  million  times  exploded  socialistic 
vagaries  of  the  government-ownership  cranks '{  " 

"For  instance?" 

"Oh,  government  railroads  and  telegraphs,  state  monopoly  of 
liquor,  and  all  that  other  balderdash  you  hear  from  the  people  who 
know  nothing  of  economics  or — 

"Listen  for  an  instant,"  I  replied.  "Did  you  know  that  the 
government-ownership  cranks  are  in  control  of  Switzerland  ?  " 

"Go  ahead,"  he  responded,  "amuse  yourself!  If  you  get  dan- 
gerous I'll  have  you  taken  to  a  hospital." 

"Do  you  see  that  man?"  I  said,  pointing  to  a  Herculean  figure 
just  entering  the  smoking  room.  "  That  is  Herr  Z ,  a  Swiss  cap- 
tain of  industry.  He  is  now  engaged  in  one  of  the  most  remarkable 


8  THE  INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM  IN   SWITZERLAND. 

engineering  feats  of  modern  times — building  a  railroad  up  the  Jung- 
frau.  I  had  a  most  interesting  conversation  with  him  the  other  day. 
Would  you  like  to  meet  him  ?  " 

He  assented,  and  we  approached  the  Swiss  magnate.  After  pre- 
senting him  I  said  "  Herr  Z .does  Switzerland  own  her  own  tele- 
graphs, telephones,  and  railroads  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.'' 

"  Does  the  Government  manage  an  express  company  and  diligence 
lines  in  connection  with  the  post  office?  " 

"  Yes,  yes  !    But  why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

"And  does  the  Government  have  a  monopoly  on  spirits,  and  is  it 
contemplating  one  on  tobacco?  Does  it  have  an  inheritance  and  in- 
come tax,  the  initiative  and  referendum,  and  proportional  representa- 
tion? " 

"  Of  course,  we  have  all  these  institutions,  and  more,"  said  Herr 
Z ,  "  but  why  do  you  ask  ?  Surely  you  knew  this  before  ?  " 

"  Yes;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  here  is  a  young  man  to  whom  all 
this  is  not  only  unexpected,  but  startling.  Tell  us,  then,  has  experi- 
ence proved  that  it  is  best  for  the  Government  to  own  and  control 
these  natural  monopolies  ?  " 

"  If  not,  we  should  not  be  continually  adding  new  ones  as  fast  as 
they  become  monopolies.  This  plan  is  a  complete  success — it  is  bene- 
ficial to  rich  and  poor  alike.  The  only  ones  injured  are  those  who  try 
to  make  illegitimate  monopoly  profits.  It  checkmates  their  game  to 
the  advantage  of  all  legitimate  business." 

"  But  does  not  this  system  develop  much  rascality  and  rottenness 
among  Government  officials  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all.  Most  decidedly  no.  Corruption  in  politics,  wherever 
it  exists  on  a  large  scale,  is  chiefly  the  result  of  powerful  private 
monopolies  influencing  to  their  owrn  advantage  the  affairs  of  state. 
There  is  but  one  remedy  for  this :  Monopoly  control  of  Government 
must  give  way  to  Government  ownership  and  control  of  monopolies. 
But  this  is  not  the  whole  story.  This  method  works  well  because  our 
officials  are  honest,  partly  because  there  are  no  great  private  monop- 
olies here  attempting  to  influence  them,  and  partly  because  in  this 
country  the  politicians  have  but  a  limited  control  of  the  Government. 
If  politicians  were  allowed  to  run  the  Government  here,  as  they  do 
in  many  other  countries,  the  advent  of  Government  ownership  would 
mean  merely  a  change  from  monopolistic  control  of  politicians  to 
politician  control  of  monopolies.  But  this  vicious  circle  has  been 
avoided,  because  in  Switzerland,  with  the  people  themselves,  lies  final 
jurisdiction." 

I  thanked  him  while  the  Yale  graduate  departed  to  walk  off  an 
attack  of  acute  mental  indigestion. 

At  Basle,  a  few  days  later,  my  Yale  friend  proposed  that  we  get 
some  Cook's  circular  tickets  and  devote  a  fortnight  to  making  a 
grand  tour  of  Switzerland. 

"Cook's  tickets,"  he  explained,  "will  be  not  only  cheaper  than 
tickets  bought  from  place  to  place,  but  also  much  less  troublesome. 
And  do  not  overlook  the  fact,"  he  added,  as  he  started  for  Cook's 
office,  "  that  this  is  an  instance  of  a  private  company  improving  on 
the  arrangements  of  your  government  railroads." 

"  Don't  get  any  ticket  for  me,"  I  shouted  after  him,  for,  in  spite 
of  a  sneaking  feeling  that  he  was  right,  I  determined  not  to  give  in 


THE  INITIATIVE  AND  REFERENDUM   IN    SWITZERLAND.  9 

until  I  had  played  my  last  card.  Hastening  down  to  the  station  I 
discovered  not  only  that  the  Government  sold  circular  tickets  at 
reduced  rates,  but  that  it  had  recently  introduced  a  new  form  of 
ticket,  called  an  "  abonnement  general,''  good  for  continuous  travel 
during  two  weeks,  a  month,  or  six  weeks,  on  all  main  railroad  and 
steamship  lines  in  the  country.  I  gleefully  bought  a  second-class 
15-day  abonnement  for  $11  and  hastened  back  to  the  hotel,  where  I 
found  my  friend  so  pleased  with  his  circular  ticket,  for  which  he 
had  paid  about  one-third  more,  that  I  hadn't  the  heart  to  say  any- 
thing about  my  own  purchase. 

When  our  tickets  were  examined  on  the  train  he  glanced  at  mine 
in  an  inquiring  sort  of  way,  but  I  merely  remarked  that  I  had  got 
hold  of  a  new  combination  and  would  know  after  a  few  days'  trial 
whether  or  not  it  was  a  success.  At  Lucerne,  where  we  took  a  boat 
ride  up  and  down  the  lake  several  times  just  for  the  lazy  delightful- 
ness  of  the  trip,  he  seemed  annoyed  at  always  having  to  pay  while 
my  ticket  gave  me  the  right  to  ride  .whenever  I  liked  "  without 
money  and  without  price."  At  Horseback,  on  Lake  Constance, 
where  we  made  a  little  side  trip  to  St.  Gall  and  Appenzell  before 
going  up  to  the  Falls  on  the  Rhine,  again  he  appeared  suddenly  dis- 
concerted at  being  obliged  to  pay  the  regular  fare  while  I,  like  *a 
railroad  magnate  traveling  on  a  pass,  had  to  give  the  conductor 
only  a  glimpse  of  my  magical  abonnement.  The  climax  came,  how- 
ever, when  on  our  return  to  Basle  we  decided  to  go  over  to  Arolla 
for  a  month's  mountain  climbing.  The  discovery  that  I  still  had 
time  to  make  the  trip  before  the  expiration  of  my  ticket  whereas  his 
carfare  would  amount  to  about  $5  made  him  too  furious  for  words. 

While  talking  over  this  trip  with  the  hotel  porter  he  found  that 
by  sending  our" baggage  straight  through  to  Arolla  we  could  go  by 
rail  and  steamer  to  Frutigen,  thence  on  foot  over  the  Gemmi  Pass 
to  the  baths  of  Leuk,  and  from  there  on  again  by  diligence,  rail,  and 
our  own  feet  to  Arolla. 

"  It  will  cost  about  $10,"  he  told  me,  "  to  express  both  trunks  and 
our  three  valises  to  Arolla,  but  I  believe  the  trip  will  be  worth  it." 

When  the  porter,  after  attending  to  the  shipping,  presented  us 
with  a  bill  for  $2.85  the  Yale  man  suggested  that  there  must  be  some 
mistake.  "  Didn't  I  tell  you,"  he  demanded,  "  to  send  our  baggage 
to  the  Hotel  Mont  Collon  at  Arolla  in  the  Valais?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  porter;  "  and  so  I  did." 

"  But,"  he  urged,  "  it  takes  about  10  hours  by  train,  6  hours  by 
diligence,  and  2J  hours  by  mule  to  get  to  Arolla.  Do  you  mean  to 
tell  me  that  the  express  company  charges  only  $2.85  for  transporting 
that  mass  of  baggage  up  there?  " 

"  Don't  worry  him,"  I  said ;  "  you  forget  that  here  we  are  not  being 
robbed  by  an  express  company,  as  is  our  custom  at  home,  but  are 
being  served  by  that  wonderful  institution,  the  Swiss  Postal  De- 
partment." 

After  our  descent  from  Arolla  on  several  occasions  I  invited  him 
to  go  with  me  to  investigate  the  workings  of  the  cantonal  and  fed- 
eral institutions.  At  Glaurus  we  w^ent  to  see  the  Government  salt 
mines,  and  at  other  places  inspected  Government  coal  mines,  cement 
factories,  gunpowder  factories,  etc. ;  but  he  never  became  enthusiastic 
over  these  trips,  seeming  at  once  to  lose  all  interest  in  an  enterprise 
;when  he  learned  that  it  was  managed  by  the  Government. 


10  THE   INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM   IN   SWITZERLAND. 

One  day  we  started  from  Martigny  to  walk  across  the  Tete  Xoir 
to  Chamonix,  meaning  to  return  in  two  days  and  go  on  with  our 
party  to  Zermatt,  but  the  air  was  so  exhilarating  and  the  mountains 
so  enticing  that  we  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  spend  two  or 
three  days  climbing  the  smaller  peaks  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Blanc. 
We  had  left  behind  both  our  letters  of  credit,  and  when  finally  we 
were  able  to  tear  ourselves  away  and  had  paid  our  guide,  our  porter, 
and  our  hotel  bills  wTe  suddenly  discovered  that  we  had  barely 
enough  money  left  to  get  us  to  Geneva.  On  arriving  there  we  were 
on  the  point  of  wiring  our  friends  at  Martigny  for  funds  when  we 
>aw  a  pawnshop,  and  my  friend  rushed  in  and  pawned  a  diamond 
scarfpin. 

"  I  suppose  this  is  the  last  of  my  pin,"  he  said  as  he  came  out, 
•'  but  it  was  the  easiest  and  quickest  way  to  get  the  money." 

As  we  were  passing  through  Geneva  the  following  week  he  stopped 
and  redeemed  the  pin.  The  fee  was  so  ridiculously  small  that  he  felt 
called  upon  to  expostulate,  though  not  perhaps  so  profanely  as  he 
did  when  bills  were  too  large.  The  attendant  looked  at  him  pity- 
ingly and  said :  "  Young  man,  we  are  here  to  serve  the  public,  not  to 
take  advantage  of  its  necessities.  You  have  paid  the  regular  fee. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  charge;  this  is  a  Government  insti- 
tution." 

He  sneaked  out  and  said  nothing,  but  I  could  see  that  he  was  very 
"hard  hit." 

A  month  or  so  later,  finding  ourselves  in  Zurich,  we  went  to  see 
one  of  the  famous  "  relief  stations,"  where  men  wTho  are  tramping 
from  town  to  town  looking  for  work  find  clean  quarters,  a  wholesome 
moral  atmosphere,  and  nourishing  food,  all  at  no  cost.  There  are  36 
such  stations  in  the  canton  of  Zurich  alone,  all  supported  at  the 
public  expense. 

The  place  seemed  quite  as  comfortable  as  our  Salvation  Army 
lodging  houses,  and  its  inmates  apparently  were  an  honest,  self- 
respecting  lot,  who  regarded  the  station  not  as  a  charitable  institu- 
tion but  as  a  very  proper  convenience  provided  by  a  wise  Govern- 
ment for  the  unemployed  members  of  its  industrial  army.  Some  of 
them  were  young  fellows  taking  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to 
see  the  world,  to  learn  some  new  tricks  in  their  trades,  and  to  pros- 
pect for  better  paying  jobs;  others  were  men  in  the  prime  of  life, 
genuine  "  out  of  works  "  anxiously  looking  for  regular  employment ; 
while  still  others  belonged  to  the  class  of  grizzled  veterans  of  indus- 
try who,  being  a  little  the  worse  for  the  wear,  invariably  are  the  first 
to  be  laid  on  the  shelf  in  times  of  economic  depression. 

I  asked  one  of  them  if  he  had  ever  been  in  a  labor  colony.  "  No," 
he  said,  flushing  slightly,  "  it  ma'y  some  time  come  to  that,  but  when 
I  get  too  old  to  keep  my  place  in  the  ranks  I  hope  with  the  aid  of 
my  children  that  I  shall  be  able  to  get  a  little  truck  farm.  Labor 
colonies  are  places  where  those  of  us  who  have  failed,  but  who  are  not 
yet  quite  ready  for  the  scrap  heap  or  the  bone  pile,  are  enabled  to 
contribute  somewhat  to  their  own  support.  They  are  a  mild  form  of 
charity,  but  their  inmates  none  the  less  are  paupers." 

There  is  a  free  employment  bureau  in  each  station,  and  the  man- 
agement is  authorized  to  supply  clothes  and  shoes  to  those  in  dire 
need.  In  some  cases  it  gives  to  men  who  are  completely  "broke" 


THE  INITIATIVE   AND  REFERENDUM  IX   SWITZERLAND.  11 


50  or  75  cents  for  use  in  case  of  an  emergency.  When  any  of  them 
are  ill,  they  are  sent  at  once  to  the  splendid  public  hospitals. 

"  Doesn't  this  sort  of  thing  have  a  tendency  to  encourage  idleness 
and  thrif  tlessness  ? ' J  I  asked  of  the  superintendent. 

"  Not  at  all/'  he  replied ;  "  in  fact,  quite  the  contrary.  We  are  most 
careful  to  discriminate  between  the  worker  and  the  biim.  The  whole 
mission  of  these  stations  is,  by  putting  the  men  in  the  way  of  taking 
care  of  themselves,  to  keep  the  temporary  idle  worker  from  degen- 
erating into  a  bum.  Every  lodger  is  required  to  show  his  '  traveling 
warrant,'  a  sort  of  industrial  passport  which  is  stamped  and  dated  at 
each  station,  thus  preserving  a  complete  record  of  each  man's  move- 
ments. Anyone  who  has  had  no  work  for  three  months  or  who  re- 
fuses to  work  or  who  has  no  c  traveling  warrant,'  is  relegated  imme- 
diately to  the  workhouse.  Moreover,  as  a  rule,  no  one  is  allowed 
to  stop  at  the  same  station  more  than  once  in  six  months." 

At  Geneva  we  called  on  M.  Jean  Sigg,  the  Genevan  representative 
of  the  federal  workingmen's  secretary,  an  official  who  is  paid  by  the 
Government  and  elected  by  the  labor  unions.  This  secretary  has 
done  much  good  work  in  a  variety  of  ways,  such  as  collecting  statis- 
tics, advising  the  unions  as  well  as  their  individual  members,  and 
helping  to  settle  labor  troubles  by  arbitration.  We  discussed 'with 
M.  Sigg  the  interesting  experiments  which  have  been  carried  on  in 
several  cantons  with  insurance  against  lack  of  employment.  He  said 
the  results  had  not  yet  been  decisive  for  or  against  the  system. 

"In  addition  to  all  these  palliative  measures,"  he  continued, 
"Switzerland,  by  constantly  increasing  its  facilities  for  technical 
education,  has  been  increasing  the  industrial  efficiency  of  its  workers 
and  decreasing  their  liability  to  loss  of  employment ;  but  we  feel  that 
if  there  is  any  one  lesson  which  our  varied  experience  teaches  us,  it  is 
this — that  only  by  solving  the  greater  problems  of  the  organization  of 
industry  and  the  distribution  of  wealth  can  the  question  of  the  un- 
employed be  effectually  disposed  of.  This  question  is  but  an  outward 
symptom  of  a  deep-seated  social  disease ;  the  exploitation  by  one  man 
of  another,  or,  in  its  aggravated  form,  the  exploitation  of  all  men 
by  huge  soulless  corporate  monsters.  When  once  we  have  healed 
ourselves  of  this  dread  disease,  quickly  the  army  of  unemployed,  with 
all  its  camp  followers  of  vice  and  crime,  will  fold  its  tents  and  silently 
steal  away,  and  its  departure  this  time  will  be  final." 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  the  Yale  man  never  seemed 
to  tire  of  questioning  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  about  the  prac- 
tical workings  of  Swiss  institutions.  On  one  occasion  he  unearthed 
a  perfect  mine  of  information  by  cross-examining  a  Swiss  fellow 
traveler  while  going  from  Geneva  to  Berne.  "Tell  me,"  he  de- 
manded, "your  telephone  and  telegraph  service  is  cheap  and  your 
express  charges,  diligence,  steamer,  and  railroad  fares  are  low.  But 
we  are  told  by  many  college  professors  and  most  newspapers  and 
magazines  in  America  that  were  our  Government  to  enter  business, 
not  being  as  economical  and  sagacious  as  a  private  company,  it  must 
do  one  of  two  things — give  inferior  service  at  high  rates  or  run  at  a 
loss  and  make  up  the  deficit  in  taxes.  Your  Government  service  is 
excellent;  your  rates  are  low.  Do  you  have  a  yearly  deficit?  " 

"True,  our  rates  are  low  and  our  service  good,"  answered  the 
Swiss,  "  and  once  in  a  great  while  some  branch  of  the  Government 
service  has  a  deficit.  This  is  advertised  abroad  with  the  greatest 


12  THE   INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM  IN   SWITZERLAND. 

publicity  by  private  companies  to  discourage  Government  enterprises 
elsewhere.  But,  on  the  average,  our  Government  enterprises  make  a 
handsome  profit  and  lessen  our  taxes  enormously." 

"  Well  and  good,"  interrupted  the  Yale  man  doggedly,  "  with  some 
of  your  Government  concerns,  but  you  will  hardly  pretend.  I  think, 
to  be  proud  of  the  fact  that  your  Government  helps  pay  your  taxes 
from  the  profits  of  an  alcohol  monopoly;  it  is  the  devil's  own 
business." 

"  But  our  Government  does  nothing  of  the  kind,"  said  the  other ; 
"  the  profits  from  the  sale  of  alcohol  do  not  replace  taxes,  but  are 
divided  among  the  Cantons  and  are  added  to  the  existing  educational 
funds,  and  a  goodly  percentage  each  year  is  devoted  to  fighting  in- 
temperance or  to  charities  made  necessary  by  intemperance.  "The 
result  has  been  that  since  the  advent  of  the  Government  monopoly, 
December  23,  1886,  the  consumption  of  alcohol  has  fallen  off  40  per 
cent.  The  object  of  this  Government  monopoly  is,  indeed,  not  reve- 
nue, for  Switzerland  stands  unique  among  the  nations  of  the  world 
in  this,  that,  far  from  going  deeper  in  debt  every  year,  she  holds 
property,  on  January  1,  1918,  called  the  Federal  fortune,  amounting 
to  241,144,619  francs,  or  $48,228,924.  Her  national  debt1  is  only 
125,069,774  francs,  or  $25,013,955,  leaving  a  Federal  fortune  free  and 
clear  of  116,074,845  francs,  or  $23,214,969.  In  addition  to  this  the  sep- 
arate Cantons,  communes,  and  municipalities  have  fortunes  amount- 
ing up  into  the  millions." 

All  this,  I  thought,  in  a  country  which,  as  some  one  has  said,  "  is 
the  poorest  in  Europe  from  the  standpoint  of  natural  advantages." 

Some  of  the  Swiss  towns  are  so  rich  that  they  levy  no  taxes;  and  at 
Buchs,  in  St.  Gall,  in  addition  to  this  exemption,  every  citizen  re- 
ceives gratis  more  than  an  acre  of  land  which  he  may  cultivate,  fire- 
wood for  the  winter,  and  grazing  ground  for  several  cattle.  The 
town  of  Soleme,  in  Schaffhausen,  has  forests,  pastures,  and  cultivated 
lands  worth  about  6,000,000  francs.  The  Canton  of  Obwald,  with 
15,000  inhabitants,  has  lands  and  forests  valued  at  11.350,000  francs. 
These  instances  could  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely,  for  nearly 
every  commune  and  Canton  has  public  lands.  The  important  fact, 
however,  is  not  that  the  Swiss  governments,  National,  State,  and 
municipal,  are  wealthy,  but  that  the  wealth  of  the  country  is  so 
diffused  among  the  people  that,  roughly  speaking,  two-thirds  of  the 
heads  of  families  are  agricultural  landholders. 

That  evening  as  we  were  having  a  quiet  smoke  the  Yale  man  re- 
opened the  discussion.  "  I  have  been  carrying  on  some  investigations 
of  my  own,"  he  said,  "  and  I  have  discovered  that,  in  spite  of  all  the 
admirable  features  connected  with  the  Swiss  form  of  government, 
there  is  one  very  undesirable  feature  which  the  Swiss,  like  the  rest  of 
us,  seem  unable  to  get  rid  of." 

"And  what  is  that?" 

"Bosses,"  he  replied  pensively,  rather  than  triumphantly,  for  in- 
sensibly of  late  he  had  been  assuming  a  more  sympathetic  attitude 
toward  Swiss  political  institutions.  "  From  what  I  can  learn,  every 
city  and  Canton  has  its  political  boss,  who  dominates  the  party,  and 

1  This  does  not  include  the  railroad  debt,  which  is  being  liquidated  automatically  every 
year  from  the  net  profits  of  the  roads,  and  which  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
value  of  the  railroads  themselves. 


THE   INITIATIVE   AND  REFERENDUM   IN   SWITZERLAND,  13 

through  it  dominates  the  municipality  or  Canton,  just  as  our  bosses 
rule  our  cities  and  States  at  home.  Human  nature  is  human  nature 
after  all,  no  matter  what  political  methods  are  employed.  Men  love 
to  be  led,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  voters  are 
led  around  by  the  nose  here,  just  as  they  are  in  every  other  so-called 
'  self-governing  '  country  in  the  world." 

"  I  would  not  for  a  moment  attempt  to  deny  that  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  truth  in  what  you  say,"  I  responded,  "but  I  think  perhaps 
you  have  overlooked  an  important  distinction.  With  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions Swiss  political  leaders,  or  'bosses,'  as  you  call  them,  have 
gained  their  ascendancy,  as  have  Bryan,  Roosevelt,  La  Follette,  and 
Wilson,  principally  by  the  ability  and  desire  they  have  shown  to 
serve  the  people  and  only  secondarily  by  their  efficiency  in  building 
up  strong  political  organizations.  Nearly  all  the  political  leaders  of 
all  political  parties  in  Switzerland  are  of  this  type,  so  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  discover.  The  Croker-Platt  type,  which  robs  or  betrays 
the  people  in  order  to  enrich  itself  and  its  friends,  is  not  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  Switzerland  except  in  the  Canton  of  Fribourg.  There 
they  have  a  political  'boss'  of  the  true  American  type;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  Fribourg  is  the  only  Canton  in  Switzerland  which  has 
no  initiative  and  referendum.  This  difference,  you  will  see,  is  abso- 
lutely fundamental. 

"But  let  me  make  myself  plain  on  another  point,"  I  continued. 
"I  do  not  harbor  the  delusion  that  Switzerland  is  a  paradise.  It  is 
true  that  the  Swiss  have  less  grinding  poverty  and  less  vice  per 
capita  than  any  other  country  in  the  world,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  New  Zealand;  yet  one  finds  numbers  of  poor  people,  lazy  peo- 
ple, and  dishonest  people,  as  well  as  much  drunkenness,  in  Switzer- 
land. While  it  is  evident  the  Swiss  have  disposed  of  many  problems 
which  at  present  are  perplexing  the  rest  of  the  world,  it  is  equally 
evident  that  they  have  many  serious  problems  still  confronting  them. 
Will  they  be  able  to  solve  these  problems?  I  do  not  know.  Will  they 
continue  to  progress  in  the  future  as  they  have  in  the  past  ?  I  hope 
so;  but  even  more  do  I  hope  that  the  United  States  and  the  rest  of 
the  world  will  be  able  to  put  to  practical  use  the  splendid  discoveries 
which  the  Swiss  already  have  made  in  the  realm  of  statecraft." 

"  Curious,  isn't  it,"  mused  my  compatriot  between  puffs  at  his  pipe ; 
"the  Swiss  are  the  only  people  in  the  world  with  a  larger  capital 
than  their  indebtedness,  and  yet,"  he  exclaimed,  suddenly  rising  and 
speaking-  with  great  earnestness,  "  what  does  that  amount  to  ?  Their 
greatest  capital  is  in  the  civic  sagacity,  civic  energy,  and  civic  purity 
of  their  citizens.  Most  of  their  voters  have  made  politics  their  busi- 
ness, and  statesmanlike  politics  has  made  of  every  legitimate  busi- 
ness a  success.  I  am  very  much  tempted  when  I  get  home  to  go  in 
for  politics  myself." 

"  Switzerland  has  perhaps  more  numerous  Government  activities," 
he  continued,  "  and  yet  less  '  paternalism '  than  any  country  in  the 
world.  I  could  not  understand  this  for  a  long  time,  but  that  was 
because  I  had  not  yet  achieved  the  national  point  of  view.  Accord- 
ing to  that  view,  the  people,  by  means  of  the  initiative  and  refer- 
endum, are  the  Government,  and  consequently  whatever  it  does  for 
them  is  self-help  and  not '  paternalism.'  Switzerland  has  worked  out 


14  THE   INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM  IN   SWITZERLAND. 

not  only  a  successful  political  democracy  but  also  to  a  certain  extent 
a  successful  industrial  democracy.  It  has  only  one  or  two  lonesome 
little  corporation-owned  t  bosses '  and  no  Napoleons  of  finance,  no  oil 
kings,  no  robber  coal  barons." 

I  was  so  astonished  I  could  only  grasp  his  hand. 

"If  the  American  people,"  he  continued,  "could  see  what  I  have 
seen  this  summer — progressive  democracy  in  practice — they  could 
not  fail  to  realize  that  our  present  era  of  corporation  regulation  is 
of  interest  chiefly  as  the  precursor  of  a  more  fundamental  and  ra- 
tional regime  of  gradually  and  conservatively  worked  out  social 
reconstruction." 

o 


AIN      1NIIIAL.      I-IINC.      \Jr      £3     k.c.11  I  •? 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  Sl.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE, 


FEB     8  1933 


16ft 


.,,  upr'50? 


LD  21-2m-l,'33  (52m) 


